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Blockchain platform set to launch

A marine insurance blockchain platform will run from next year following a 20-week proof of concept, EY and technology company Guardtime say.

The platform was developed in collaboration with transport and logistics group AP Moller-Maersk, insurance standards specialist group Acord, Microsoft, MS Amlin, Willis Towers Watson and XL Catlin.

EY says the platform is built on Microsoft Azure global cloud technology and will deploy blockchain benefits for end-to-end use across the marine industry.

“This solution is the first to apply blockchain’s transparency, security and standardisation to marine insurance and is ready for commercial use,” EY Asia-Pacific Insurance Leader Jonathan Zhao said.

The developers will assess findings from the project in examining blockchain’s potential in other specialty insurance markets, and more broadly.

The technology offers transparency for parties involved in the information chain, and can reduce manual data entry and reconciliation and administration costs.

EY Global Insurance Leader Shaun Crawford says the marine platform will start with participants that were involved in the proof of concept.

“However, we are also looking to attract other companies we would like to on-board as well, starting with other insurers and eventually other shipping companies and industry players,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We plan to charge a managed service fee for our cloud-based Azure platform that will enable them to use the service.”

AP Moller-Maersk Head of Risk and Insurance Lars Henneberg says leveraging technology to streamline and automate the group’s interaction with the insurance market is a priority.

“Insurance transactions are currently far too tedious and frictional,” he said.